Danbury-based Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) is in a state of “crisis” due to plummeting enrollment and skyrocketing operating costs, according to a national consultancy.
WTNH.com reported investigators from the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems recommended that WCSU cut its personal expenditures by $10 million through the elimination of part-time faculty positions and other “difficult reduction decisions.” The consultancy estimated that higher-than-normal spending per on-campus student in a school where 75% of students are commuters has created a situation where the school”™s financial reserves were “negative by an estimated $2.3 million.”
“The institution is still somewhat in a state of shock over the late ‘discovery’ of the true extent of the financial challenges the University faces,” the consultancy stated. “WCSU remains an institution in crisis. WCSU simply does not have the luxury of time … it cannot afford to hesitate in making bold decisions or to permit key decision-making processes to drag on interminably.”™”™
